NEW YORK CITY

BOARD OF CORRECTION

MEETING OF KAY 8, 1991

Members Present

John R. Horan, Acting ChairmanJudge William BoothLouis A. Cruz, Esq.David Lenefsky, Esq.Barbara MargolisDavid A. Schulte

An excused absence was noted for Rev. Irvine Bryer, Jr.

Representatives of the Department of Correction

Vito Turso, Deputy CommissionerRobert Daly, General CounselToni Bair, Assistant CommissionerHector Eugui, Deputy ChiefEric Taylor, Division Chief

Others in Attendance

Michael Caruso, City Department of InvestigationJohn Guzman, New York State Commission of CorrectionPatricia Thomas, New York State Commission of CorrectionLeslie Hurdle, Mayor's Office of Operations,Mary Jo Mullan, Office of Compliance Consultants,Frank Reay, State Senate Committee on Crime and CorrectionsGeorge Jordan, New York NewsdayMark Mooney, New York PostSelwynn Raab, New York Times

1

The meeting began at 2:10 p.m.. Acting Chairman John Horan

welcomed the representatives of the Department of Correction and

other guests. Mr. Horan called for a notion to adopt the minutes

of the Board meeting of April 10, 1991 . The motion was made by

Board member Judge William Booth, seconded by Board member

Barbara Margolis , and approved by all Board members present.

Mr. Horan said that the Board was distressed by a number of

incidents that had taken place since the last meeting. He said

that both the State Commission of Correction and the City's

Department of Investigation had issued reports regarding the

disturbance at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center last August,

and that Commissioner Sielaff's response to these reports was

unsatisfactory. He noted that the Mayor had given Mr. Sielaff 30

days to prepare a formal response to the recommendations of both

reports. Mr. Horan then stated that the Board, as part of its

Charter mandate, had an interest in having its questions about

the report's findings answered as well. Board Member David

Lenefsky made a motion that the Board formally request both

written and in person responses by the Commissioner. The motion

was seconded by Board member David Schulte and passed by a

unanimous vote of all Board members present.

Mr. Horan asked the Department to give the reasons for the

delay in processing "state-ready" inmates and for an account of

what efforts had been made to reduce the backlog of such inmates.

2

Mr. Horan then asked about the Department's position on the

proposed cuts in the system ' s mental health budget . Assistant

Commissioner Bair said that Commissioner Sielaff was not aware

until recently that any reduction in the mental health budget had

been proposed. Mr. wolf then said that he had raised the issue

in a meeting with the Commissioner the previous day. Mr. Bair

acknowledged that this was the case , and noted that the

Commissioner had mentioned to Deputy Mayors Mollen and Steisel

that such a move would be detrimental the City's correction

system . Mr. Horan noted that while "mentioning" could be

interpreted as one form of advocacy, he wondered whether the

Commissioner should have taken a more forceful stand. Mr.

Lenefsky said that he found the idea that a city official on the

level of a Commissioner would be unaware of budget cuts that

would have major implications for his agency's operation was

incredible. He went on to say that, if this were true, it

indicated a serious lack of management capability.

Mr. Horan then asked about the status of the variance bed-

reduction program. Mr. Eugui reported that the Department had

added 1118 beds since the program started, but had reduced

variance beds by only 453 and was, therefore, approximately 111

beds behind schedule. He explained that this was due to the

measles quarantine in March and that when the system population

stabilized in the next 2-3 weeks, the Department would eliminate

these variance beds. Mr. Schulte said that with these efforts in

4

mind he moved to renew existing variances. The motion was,

seconded by Board member Louis Cruz and approved by all Board

members present.

Mr. Schulte voiced concerns about the decrease in inmate

wages, saying that savings could be more easily achieved through

other cuts . He said that the cuts might make the administration

of an already unstable system even more difficult.

Division Chief Eric Taylor then gave a brief overview of the

events surrounding the recent escape from the Manhattan Detention

Center. At the time of the Board meeting, the inmate was still

at large. Chief Taylor explained that he could not give an

in-depth report on the matter because the Inspector General's

office was currently conducting an investigation. He promised,

however, that a detailed report on the escape would be provided

to the Board after the IG's investigation and report are

completed. Mr. Taylor also said that the same was true with

respect to the allegations that inmate Cartagena had been beaten

at the Anna M. Kross Center in mid-April.

Department Counsel Robert Daly then sought the Board's

support of the Department's current legislative package,

particularly proposed legislation to reduce the 28 day

affirmation period for parole violators. Judge Booth moved that

the Board support the package and the motion was seconded by Mr.

5

Lenefsky . All Board members present then voted to approve the

motion.

Mr. Lenefsky then asked whether the new command discipline

directive was in place. Mr. Bair said it was close to being

implemented . Mr. Lenefsky said that if they were to be finalized

before the next meeting , it was important for the Department to

meet with the Board to discuss the proposed changes before they

are implemented . Deputy Commissioner Turso agreed and

volunteered the Department ' s cooperation.

Returning to the issue of state-readies, Judge Booth noted

that it might be appropriate to evaluate the performance of

Montefiore in light of the problems regarding their processing of

medical forms for State -ready inmates. Hector Eugui said that

there had been a problem, but that once it was brought to

Montefiore ' s attention it was fixed promptly. He added that he

has always found Montefiore to be quite cooperative.

Acting Chairman Horan thanked the representatives of the

Department of Correction and others present for their

participation . The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

6

NEW YORE CITY

BOARD OF CORRECTION

MEETING OF KAY 8, 1991

Members Present

John R. Horan, Acting ChairmanJudge William BoothLouis A. Cruz, Esq.David Lenefsky, Esq.Barbara MargolisDavid A. Schulte

An excused absence was noted for Rev . Irvine Bryer, Jr.

Representatives of the Department of Correction

Vito Turso, Deputy CommissionerRobert Daly, General CounselToni Bair, Assistant CommissionerHector Eugui, Deputy ChiefEric Taylor, Division Chief

Others in Attendance

Michael Caruso, City Department of InvestigationJohn Guzman, New York State Commission of CorrectionPatricia Thomas, New York State Commission of CorrectionLeslie Hurdle, Mayor's Office of Operations,Mary Jo Mullan, Office of Compliance Consultants,Frank Reay, State Senate Committee on Crime and CorrectionsGeorge Jordan, New York NewsdayMark Mooney, New York PostSelwynn Raab, New York Times

1

The meeting began at 2:10 p.m.. Acting Chairman John Horan

welcomed the representatives of the Department of Correction and

other guests . Mr. Horan called for a motion to adopt the minutes

of the Board meeting of April 10, 1991. The motion was made by

Board member Judge William Booth, seconded by Board member

Barbara Margolis, and approved by all Board members present.

Mr. Horan said that the Board was distressed by a number of

incidents that had taken place since the last meeting. He said

that both the State Commission of Correction and the City's

Department of Investigation had issued reports regarding the

disturbance at the Otis Bantum Correctional Center last August,

and that Commissioner Sielaff's response to these reports was

unsatisfactory. He noted that the Mayor had given Mr. Sielaff 30

days to prepare a formal response to the recommendations of both

reports. Mr. Horan then stated that the Board, as part of its

Charter mandate, had an interest in having its questions about

the report's findings answered as well. Board Member David

Lenefsky made a motion that the Board formally request both

written and in person responses by the Commissioner. The motion

was seconded by Board member David Schulte and passed by a

unanimous vote of all Board members present.

Mr. Horan asked the Department to give the reasons for the

delay in processing "state-ready" inmates and for an account of

what efforts had been made to reduce the backlog of such inmates.

2

Chief Bugui described how the processing of state-ready inmates

had become centralized and how the bottlenecks in the processing

of these inmates had developed. He said that once the backlog

had been identified , the State increased the number of inmates it

would accept , but noted that events such as the measles

quarantine prevented a significant reduction in the size of the

backlog. Executive Director Richard Wolf then asked Mr. Eugui

what the size of the backlog was between January and March of

this year. Mr. Eugui reported that in January it was 800, in

February it was 1300-1400 and in March it grew to 1500. Mr.

Schulte noted that the cost of housing these inmates made it

imperative to reduce the backlog as quickly as possible, and

asked when the Department anticipated eliminating it. Mr. Horan

noted that while the Commissioner originally said the problem

would be solved within a couple of weeks, that estimate had since

been revised and the Department now said it would be several

weeks before the backlog was eased.

Mr. Horan then said he wished to discuss the issue of

visits. Mr. Schulte asked whether his understanding that the

Department wished to abolish contact visits was correct. Mr.

Horan said that the Department had not requested a variance to do

away with all contact visits, but the request that it had made --

to modify the visit schedule-- had been withdrawn after the Legal

Aid Society objected to the proposal.

3

Mr. Horan then asked about the Department's position on the

proposed cuts in the system ' s mental health budget . Assistant

Commissioner Bair said that Commissioner Sielaff was not aware

until recently that any reduction in the mental health budget had

been proposed . Mr. Wolf then said that he had raised the issue

in a meeting with the Commissioner the previous day. Mr. Bair

acknowledged that this was the case, and noted that the

Commissioner had mentioned to Deputy Mayors Mollen and Steisel

that such a move would be detrimental the City's correction

system . Mr. Horan noted that while "mentioning" could be

interpreted as one form of advocacy, he wondered whether the

Commissioner should have taken a more forceful stand. Mr.

Lenefsky said that he found the idea that a city official on the

level of a Commissioner would be unaware of budget cuts that

would have major implications for his agency's operation was

incredible. He went on to say that, if this were true, it

indicated a serious lack of management capability.

Mr. Horan then asked about the status of the variance bed-

reduction program. Mr. Eugui reported that the Department had

added 1118 beds since the program started, but had reduced

variance beds by only 453 and was, therefore, approximately 111

beds behind schedule. He explained that this was due to the

measles quarantine in March and that when the system population

stabilized in the next 2-3 weeks, the Department would eliminate

these variance beds. Mr. Schulte said that with these efforts in

4

mind he moved to renew existing variances . The motion was.

seconded by Board member Louis Cruz and approved by all Board

members present.

Mr. Schulte voiced concerns about the decrease in inmate

wages, saying that savings could be more easily achieved through

other cuts . He said that the cuts might make the administration

of an already unstable system even more difficult.

Division Chief Eric Taylor then gave a brief overview of the

events surrounding the recent escape from the Manhattan Detention

Center. At the time of the Board meeting, the inmate was still

at large. Chief Taylor explained that he could not give an

in-depth report on the matter because the Inspector General's

office was currently conducting an investigation . He promised,

however, that a detailed report on the escape would be provided

to the Board after the IG's investigation and report are

completed . Mr. Taylor also said that the same was true with

respect to the allegations that inmate Cartagena had been beaten

at the Anna M. Kross Center in mid-April.

Department Counsel Robert Daly then sought the Board's

support of the Department ' s current legislative package,

particularly proposed legislation to reduce the 28 day

affirmation period for parole violators. Judge Booth moved that

the Board support the package and the motion was seconded by Mr.

5

Lenefsky. All Board members present then voted to approve the

motion.

Mr. Lenefsky then asked whether the new command discipline

directive was in place . Mr. Bair said it was close to being

implemented . Mr. Lenefsky said that if they were to be finalized

before the next meeting , it was important for the Department to

meet with the Board to discuss the proposed changes before they

are implemented . Deputy Commissioner Turso agreed and

volunteered the Department ' s cooperation.

Returning to the issue of state-readies, Judge Booth noted

that it might be appropriate to evaluate the performance of

Montefiore in light of the problems regarding their processing of

medical forms for State -ready inmates. Hector Eugui said that

there had been a problem, but that once it was brought to

Montefiore's attention it was fixed promptly . He added that he

has always found Montefiore to be quite cooperative.

Acting Chairman Horan thanked the representatives of the

Department of Correction and others present for their

participation . The meeting was adjourned at 3:30 p.m.

6

page 1page 2page 3page 4page 5page 6page 7page 8page 9page 10page 11